OLDaily

[link: 12 Hits] I had the opportunity to review this over the week-end and it's good enough that I sent it ahead of me so I could use it for my presentation this week in Edson, Alberta. It's pretty complete, factually accurate, and contains dozens and dozens of ideas for the use of RSS (and associated technologies) in education. Great stuff; don't miss this. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: 2 Hits] So anyhow, I heard this odd whining noise in my computer bag just before leaving for Edmonton... yup, it was another Dell computer giving up the ghost (it wasn't even turned on!)... so anyhow, I'm in Alberta now, writing from a hotel cafeteria on a backup computer with no ethernet (wireless works fine though, go figure). It's going to be a tough week for access, so don't be surprised if I miss a few issues of OLDaily this week.

What I'm linking to here is pretty unfinished, but I won't get back to it for at least a week (maybe longer, depending on Dell). But it is functional, and you can mess with it a bit to make it more so. Basically, RSS Writr (and before you complain, I'm really sorry about the name) is the first instance of my vision of the core of the personal learning environment. Select an aggregator (you can use Edu_RSS 0.2 or MyGlu as an aggregator) from the dropdown (if you don't like those links, edit the HTML and define your own MyGlu or some other aggregator), read the posts, drag and drop the links and text (and images, and whatever) into the authoring window, make something of your own out of them, then post to your Blogger account.

What you should picture, as you imagine how this would be used, is both teachers and students using it in the same way... the teacher aggregates learning resources from services such as DLORN or their colleagues, and mashes up lessons for the day or whatever, while the students aggregate from their teacher(s), their friends, Google, wikipedia, or whatever (you can put whatever you want into the dropdown) or whatever, and then they use this content to create somehting cool of their own (which, of course, is aggregated by the teacher, other students, people around the world, whatever, and the cycle begins anew).

Anyhow, sorry it's not done, but I just don't have the computer or the access or the time to do more at the moment, and I really wanted to somehow put in concrete form and to communicate the vision of learning that I have. Thanks, everybody, for your understanding and patience.
[Tags: Wireless, Linking and Deep Linking, Cool, Google] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: 2 Hits] If you are going to be in London on February 4, come meet with me and some of the leading lights of the British edublogosphere. I will be in the city only for a short time on my way to Sweden for an OECD conference on open learning the following week. [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: Hits] Norm Friesen interviews Jutta Treveranus, one of Canada's leading experts on web accessibility. Podcast and transcript are available. Some interesting observations. "There was quite a transition from IMS to ISO. When we did the consultations around the formulation of the IMS version of ACCMD the feedback that we got from the community was that it would be very difficult to get any additional metadata on any digital resource. People were not filling out the metadata for resources that was already a part of existing standards..." [Tags: Accessibility, Canada, IMS Project, Metadata] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: 2 Hits] Interesting analysis, though the focus is almost entirely on learning management systems, which perhaps says something. Observing that the long-expected industry consolidation has already happened, for the most part, the report notes that a problem for LMSs is that they all look and feel pretty much like each other - even while at the same time not being able to properly exchange data with each other or enterprise systems. The outlook isn't positive. "These companies are generating enough cash to remain [afloat], but they aren't generating the kinds of profit margins that will keep investors happy over the long haul," he says. "At some point, investors are going to lose patience with them." [Tags: ] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: Hits] Norm Friesen writes, "CanCore has undertaken a small-scale pilot project to enhance existing metadata records for Canadian learning resources provided by the Library and Archives of Canada. This project enhances or adds value to these records not so much by adding additional data or fields, but by converting these records from Dublin Core to the syntax and semantics of CanCore and the Learning Object Metadata Standard (LOM). In this way, it enables these records --and by extension the resources they describe-- to be easily used in the LOM-based repositories of educational resources set up by provinces across Canada." [Tags: Canada, Learning Object Repositories, Project Based Learning, Metadata, Semantics] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: 1 Hits] Description of a professional development plan and process to improve practitioners' knowledge of learning technologies. Pretty detailed (even includes stuff like "Use appropriate e-learning tools to record and store learners' progress and achievements and ensure learner records are complete and up to date"). Direct link... I'm linking to a general page where the link is (probably temporarily) available (there's also a link on this page to an interesting Ask Butler service (no points for the name or logo, though, right Jeeves? right AOL?)). Via Josie Fraser. [Tags: Online Learning, Linking and Deep Linking] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

[link: Hits] Survey that asks two questions of academics: "What rights would individuals expect to exert over the teaching materials they deposit into a repository, and what rewards would motivate them to deposit their teaching materials?" According to the results, contributors would like a salary increment or lump sum award (of course, there is a big difference, glossed in this survey, between 'like' and 'require'). As for rights, most professors wanted to be attributed, and with 'certain conditions' attached (for example, non-commercial use). These results are consistent with other surveys of this type, though they are presented here with a slant toward payment for authors and access controls for readers, even though these are minority (and in some cases, small minority) views. PDF. Associated web page. [Tags: Learning Object Repositories, Academics and Academia] [Comment] [Edit] [Delete] [Spam]

I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle.

Where they are able to form networks of meaningful and rewarding relationships with their peers,
with people who share the same interests or hobbies, the same political or religious affiliations - or different
interests or affiliations, as the case may be.

This to me is a society where knowledge and learning are public goods, freely created and shared,
not hoarded or withheld in order to extract wealth or influence.

This is what I aspire toward, this is what I work toward. - Stephen Downes